Paranoid Much?
by Karma Killer 11
Summary: A friend watching out for you is always nice. But... Neji's just a little too paranoid for his own good. Maybe if he's lucky, Tenten won't hurt him too badly this time! Again, I wasn't sure if this should be in a drabble collection or just a one-shot.


AN: Hey all! ^^ Fooshi convinced me to finally update. Not one of my better stories, but hey. xD Please, please, please critique! I wanna get better at writing! :D Anyway, enjoy!!

Disclaimer: Right, forgot. -_- I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be writing Fanfics, I'd be making these events actually _happen_.

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Neji was, to say the very least, an extremely overprotective friend. He didn't easily open up and let people in, but once he did, he absolutely refused to let go.

Which was his reason for walking by Tenten's apartment every afternoon, along with Lee's and Naruto's. (He figured Gai could take care of himself) Several ninjas from the Rookie 9 called him a stalker; Neji didn't care. He'd do what was necessary.

At the moment, Neji was walking en route to Tenten's house. Ah, the sun felt nice… Oh, and look, birds! He faced the open sky and began to count.

_One, two, thr-AH!_ Neji quickly straightened himself as he cast a dark glare at the rock he had tripped over. _Smooth,_ he thought to himself. _Real smooth._ The rock seemed to wither under the force of Neji's stare.

Still walking, but with a significantly darker air around him, Neji made his way to Tenten's residence muttering under his breath. Then a giggle broke into his thoughts.

"Haha, Kiba, you're hilarious!" the owner of 'the giggle' laughed. A very familiar voice… A voice that he mentally matched up to a certain kunoichi with big, brown eyes and a panda-ear hairstyle.

Neji quickened his pace. That was Tenten speaking, and obviously to the one and only Kiba Inuzuka. What's more, they sounded like they were flirting. _Flirting!_

Neji's frown deepened. Although he'd never really witnessed any scandalous act on Kiba's part, he'd heard rumors that made Kiba out to be a totally despicable pervert. And he was flirting with Tenten! Two words echoed in Neji's head.

_Date rape, date rape, date rape, date rape, date rape, date rape…_

"Tenten!" Neji snapped as both she and Kiba came into view. She whirled around looking surprised. Then she grinned. "Oh! Hi Neji, what are you doing here? How are you?"

Neji narrowed his eyes at Kiba, who admittedly looked a little worried. "Fine. I was just checking up on you, making sure you were okay."

Tenten laughed _again_. Goodness, did she ever stop? "Thanks, Neji, but I'm fine. Really. I'll see you at the training grounds tomorrow morning, m'kay?"

Despite the obvious dismissal, Neji stayed. "So… Kiba, right?" he hissed. "What compels you two to speak to each other? Do you know one another?" All the while Neji was talking, he stared Kiba down, making the Inuzuka visibly uncomfortable.

Kiba flashed Neji a lopsided grin. "Ya know…" he said, "When a person says they'll see you later, it's often code for 'Fuck off, I'm trying to have a conversation.'"

"Is it now?" Neji's eyes flashed dangerously. He seemed awfully close to blowing his top…

Rolling his eyes, Kiba gave Tenten a friendly hug. "See ya 'round, Tennie." He said, before walking away with his hands in his pockets and a nonchalant grin on his face. Akamaru tottered happily after him, sniffing at the occasional shrub.

Tenten waited until Kiba was out of earshot. The moment he was, she whirled on Neji. "What," she snapped, "is your problem? I'm trying to have a perfectly decent conversation with my friend, and _you_ come out of nowhere being a total jackass!"

Now that Kiba was gone, so was all of Neji's rage. He blinked innocently at Tenten with a large-eyed 'what did I do?' expression. _A bit like a bewildered, lost puppy…_ mused Tenten, before quickly shoving the traitorous thought to the back of her mind. "Just what were you thinking anyway?" she demanded.

"Date rape." Neji answered truthfully.

Tenten nearly choked on the air she had been inhaling a moment before. "Whaaaaat?? Neji, Kiba would never, _never_ go after me. Do you know why?"

"He's already involved with someone else?" Neji guessed.

"_Yes_, he's already involved! And do you know with who?"

Neji frowned. This was news. Time for another stab in the dark… "Uh... Ino?"

Sighing, Tenten lightly smacked her forehead. "No," she said, "It's Kankurou of the Sand. You know, the Kazekage's brother?"

"Brother?" Neji shot her a quizzical look.

"Neji, he's _gay_."

Realization hit Neji like a sledgehammer, and immediately all of his resentment towards Kiba vanished.

"Oh." Yeah, _oh_. God, he was an idiot! "Sorry Tenten."

Tenten just shook her head, then grinned at him and invited him in for tea.

Neji poked at one of her hair-buns and followed her, smiling to himself.

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AN: The end! ^-^ It was supposed to be a friendship fic, but you can interpret it as a Nejiten if you so choose. Review? =D My goal is five.


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